The Price
by jozivabellepattersonfan
Summary: Five years after the events of "A Many Splendored Thing," the team gets a case related to their former teammate. Presumably AU after 14x16.
1. Chapter 1

Stairs were bad for his knees, or so his physical therapist kept reminding him. Gibbs ignored her. He knew how important it was for him to greet his agents on the way to his office, and he did it every morning without fail, taking the elevator to the second floor and walking through the squad room instead of riding directly to the third story.

This habit of his also gave him the opportunity to glance at the "Most Wanted" wall. Looking at the wall was bad for his soul, or so Dr. Taft kept reminding him. Gibbs ignored him, too. He needed to see the once-familiar face that now adorned it.

How could he have been so wrong about Ellie Bishop?

As he did every morning, he put his former protégé out of his mind and got to work.

He was expecting a call from Special Agent Alex Quinn at 7:35 AM on the nose. She had missed her check-in last week, but he had decided not to worry quite yet; Quinn had turned into one of his best undercover operatives, and he didn't want to blow her cover unless he was certain she was in danger. If she missed her check-in today, however, he would have to take action.

"Morning, Director," his secretary said as he walked by. "Reports are on your desk, and SecNav is on line one."

"Thanks, Susan," he replied, accepting the steaming coffee mug she held out to him. He closed the door to his office and picked up the phone. "Leon."

"Gibbs. I know it's first thing in the morning–"

"That's never bothered you before."

"–I just wanted an update on Project T."

Gibbs checked his watch. "I should know more in about ten minutes. I'll give you a call." He hung up the phone and sat down to read through the stack of reports from his secretary. Susan was perfect; she knew how much he loved coffee and hated computers and small talk. They got along splendidly.

Caught up in a report about a recent attack at a naval base, Gibbs didn't notice that 7:35 came and went. It wasn't until Susan patched through another call from SecNav that he realized what time it was. "You said you'd have information for me," Leon said, a touch of irritation in his voice.

"I was expecting to hear from our agent," Gibbs replied. "This is the second check-in she's missed. I'll get McGee and his team on it."

"Bring her back safe, Gibbs."

The director seized the Project T file from a drawer and headed for the stairs. Physical therapist be damned – he couldn't wait for the elevator when his agent's life was on the line.

* * *

Hello again, NCIS fandom! Remember those nice, happy, uplifting-of-Bishop stories that I've written previously? This is not one of those. I was totally a Bishop fan until season 14 episode 16. What the hell? Is Bishop not going to get, I don't know, arrested or at the very least fired? Because she committed several very-big-deal kind of crimes. I know that Gibbs has done similar things, but he was very much alone when he killed his wife and child's murderer. Bishop was surrounded by a very supportive team who were very much on her side, and she still chose to make those decisions.

I feel quite certain that this is NOT going to be where the show goes with Bishop's character, but I saw a review that stated that Bishop was quite possibly the _darkest_ protagonist the show has seen thus far. So this is my vision of Bishop's future if she continues down the dark path she's on. Please let me know what you think in the comments below! I'll update shortly!


	2. Chapter 2

"The Director said that when he last spoke to Quinn, she had just had her first interaction with her mark." McGee consulted his tablet. "One Jeremy Townsend."

Torres whistled through his teeth. "Jeremy Townsend? _The_ Jeremy Townsend? I knew she was going deep, but I didn't know she was after him."

"Who's Jeremy Townsend?"

They both turned to look at Jessie Wells, their newest Probie. "You don't know who Jeremy Townsend is?" McGee asked.

"No?" She grinned at them, completely unabashed.. "Clearly I need to brush up on him. Care to enlighten me?"

"He's _this_ close to being on our "Most Wanted" wall," Torres informed her. "He killed a Petty Officer in Rota last year in cold blood. Nasty killing, too – he let her bleed out slowly. The agents in Rota caught him, but he got off on a technicality. They didn't read him his Miranda Rights."

"He has connections to at least two terrorist organizations, if not more," McGee continued. "We could never prove those connections, so for now, he's a free man, living in Annapolis."

"So what's Quinn's end game?" Jessie asked.

"She wants to prove those connections and turn Townsend into an asset," McGee replied. "He's despicable, but if he truly has connections–"

"He could lead us to the terrorists," Jessie finished. "All right. So where did Quinn make her first connection with him?"

McGee consulted his tablet again. "At a sports bar. She reported to Gibbs that Townsend was cheerful and hostile in turns and seemed very unstable. She was going to join him at the bar again a few days after their initial meet-up. That was nine days ago."

"And we haven't heard anything since?" Torres asked.

"Not a thing. We don't want to blow her cover if she's fine, but..." McGee put up his hands. "She's probably not fine at this point. She wouldn't miss two check-ins with Gibbs if she was fine."

"All right. So what's our next move?"

"Torres, take Jessie and check out Quinn's apartment in Annapolis. I'll go to the bar." McGee's two agents nodded and headed for the elevator. McGee stopped to take his service weapon from his filing cabinet. As he did, the "Most Wanted" wall caught his eye.

Something about this case... it reminded him of Ellie. He was about to shake his head and move on, but years of relying on his boss's famous gut made him pause.

He would keep his old teammate in mind as he investigated this case. It was right up her alley – a dangerous criminal that they couldn't arrest, and were planning to use instead of incarcerate. If anyone would attract Ellie's attention, it would be Jeremy Townsend.

* * *

It's kind of fun to imagine what the team would be like with McGee in charge. In case you're wondering, I'm picturing Quinn as their fourth teammate when she's not undercover.

Thanks for reading, everyone! And thanks to aphass and athea781 for reviewing! In response to your comparison between Ziva and Ellie, aphass: I think what Ellie did in the last episode was much more diabolical than anything Ziva ever did. Tricking him into killing himself was beyond terrifying to watch. And athea781, not too many surprises in this chapter, but they're coming soon :)


	3. Chapter 3

McGee had just made it to the sports bar when Torres called. "Find anything, Nick?" he asked.

"Not a thing," Torres replied. "No signs of forced entry or a struggle. The neighbors say they haven't seen Quinn – excuse me, Jackie Fox – in a few days, but none of them can remember how many. They say she wasn't here much to begin with."

"All right. Come meet me at the bar. I'm walking in now." McGee hit "end call" and pushed open the door to the bar. It was empty except for the manager sitting behind the counter.

"Sorry, dude, we're not open for another few hours," he called. "You could try the place across the street–"

"That's okay," McGee said, taking Quinn's photo from his pocket. "I'm just looking for my sister. Have you seen her?"

The manager took the photo and smiled. "Ah, Jackie. Yeah, I've seen her."

"Can you tell me when? I haven't heard from her in a few days, but the police won't let me file a missing persons report. Said I couldn't prove that she was missing."

He looked at the ceiling. "Huh. Let's see. It was last week sometime, I know that. Thursday, maybe?"

The day she was supposed to meet Jeremy again, McGee thought. "Thursday! Okay, that's great. Was she with anyone? Did she seem okay?"

The manager's smile vanished. "Oh, yeah. She was with someone."

"Who was she with?"

"This guy named Jeremy." He made the name sound like a curse. "Real dirtbag, but your sister seems to like him. They left together that night, and come to think of it, I don't think I've seen either of them since."

McGee shuddered, and he let the manager see it. "This is beginning to sound like one of those horror movies," he said. "Any idea where Jeremy lives?"

"Sorry, dude, I don't know." He gave him a pat on the shoulder. "I wish I could help you more."

"Thanks."

Torres and Jessie were waiting outside the bar. "Anything?" Jessie asked.

"She was here last Thursday, and she left the bar with Jeremy. The manager hasn't seen either of them since."

The door to the bar opened, and the manager poked his head out. "Hey, good, you're still here."

"Did you remember something else?" McGee asked.

"Yeah. There was this woman here that night. She seemed perfectly normal until she slipped out without paying right after Jackie and Jeremy left. Like she was following them or something."

McGee tried to keep his sudden interest hidden. "Had you seen her before?"

"No, dude. She was maybe her height," he said, gesturing to Jessie. "Short dark hair, brown eyes. I heard her answer her cell. Think she said her name was McKnight or something like that."

"Thanks, man. That'll give me something else to tell the police."

"No problem. I hope you find her." The manager returned to the bar, and McGee turned to the other two. "McKnight."

"Who's McKnight?" Jessie asked, raising an eyebrow. "Another criminal I haven't heard of?"

"Oh, you've heard of her," Torres told her with a scowl. "Just by another name – Bishop."

* * *

Yes, I did go with another chess piece for Bishop's alias. I couldn't help it!

Thanks to everyone for reading, and aphass and for reviewing! Yes, aphass, I think Quinn would be McGee's second-in-command type person. And you have a point there, , but I go back to my earlier statement: Ziva (and Gibbs for that matter) made their bad choices in isolation, whereas Bishop made her choice while surrounded by her teammates who were on her side. I think part of the reason I'm frustrated is because the writers didn't do a good job of making Qasim someone for us to like. We hardly knew him before he was killed.


	4. Chapter 4

"You're sure about this, Agent McGee?"

McGee nodded. "Positive, Mr. Secretary. This has Bishop written all over it. The manager at the bar described her last known appearance and one of her aliases."

"Do you think Quinn is at risk?"

He hesitated. "I don't believe that Bishop would intentionally hurt a former teammate. However, I also don't believe that she would let Quinn stop her."

"So she might hurt Quinn to get Townsend?"

"Yes."

"Then you have my permission to use whatever means necessary to stop Bishop and bring Quinn back."

"We weren't asking for permission," Gibbs commented from beside McGee.

"I know, Director. I'm giving it to you anyway." The Secretary turned to someone that McGee and Gibbs couldn't see. "Cut the feed."

The MTAC screen went dark, and McGee and Gibbs turned to each other.

"I never thought it would come to this," McGee told him softly.

"It has, McGee." Gibbs turned to leave MTAC, then stopped and put a hand on his agent's shoulder. "She made her choice. Now it's time to make ours."

"On it, boss."

As McGee made his way down the stairs, he overheard Jessie ask, "So how did Bishop go from NCIS agent to rogue vigilante?"

"Her boyfriend was murdered," Torres replied, not looking up from the file he was reading. "By a terrorist."

"Oookay..." Jessie glared at Torres until he looked up.

"What?"

"Details! Come on. I've read the file, I know what happened – but you knew her."

"We thought we did," McGee put in as he came around the corner. "But once she killed the terrorist who killed her boyfriend, she..."

"Got a taste for it," Torres supplied.

"Instead of seeing all the good we do, she saw only the bad – the ones we couldn't put away, the people we couldn't save. So she started taking justice into her own hands."

"Gibbs caught on, but it was too late. She was in the wind."

"And now it's our job to catch her and bring Quinn back." McGee turned to the screen. "So what do we know?"

Jessie hopped up from her chair and came to stand next to him. "Jeremy Townsend has an apartment in Annapolis, not far from Quinn's. We checked it while you filled SecNav in. It's empty – no one's been there in a week, according to neighbors."

"He works at a gas station," Torres continued. "Hasn't been there in a week either."

"Security footage?"

"None from the apartment, but the gas station has a camera," Jessie replied. "Abby's working it now."

"What about the bar?"

"Nada. Nothing close to it, either. Traffic cams are the best we've got – again, Abby's working them."

Torres' phone rang, and he turned to answer it. Jessie asked quietly, "Do you think Bishop would hurt Quinn? I mean, they used to work together."

"The Bishop we used to work with is gone," McGee replied. "I would believe anything of her now."

Torres turned back to them, putting his phone back in his pocket. "Abby got a hit on traffic cams. She saw Bishop enter an abandoned house."

"Last week?"

"No. Five minutes ago."

Without another word, the three of them ran for the elevator.

* * *

What do you think, does the progression I described for Bishop make sense?

Thanks for reading, everyone, and to DS2010 for reviewing! I'm glad you're curious about what's happening next. :)


	5. Chapter 5

McGee sent Torres around to the back of the house. After a moment, he whispered, "Ready," into the coms. McGee nodded to Jessie, who put a hand on the door handle.

"On my mark," he said. "One, two..."

Jessie pulled the door open, and McGee entered the living room, gun at the ready. Jessie followed. The room was empty; he gestured for Jessie to check the bathroom. When she shook her head, they continued down the hall, meeting up with Torres in the kitchen.

"Anything?" McGee asked quietly.

"Nothing," he replied.

Stairs from the dining room led to the second story. McGee left Jessie to guard the stairwell and preceded Torres up the steps. When he reached the second floor, he heard a sound from the far bedroom. "There," he mouthed to Torres, who nodded.

They ghosted down the hall. As they got closer to the bedroom, they heard voices.

"Bishop, you don't want to do this." McGee and Torres exchanged glances; that was Quinn.

Another voice snapped back, "I don't understand you, Quinn!" Torres growled under his breath. McGee didn't blame him; the sound of Bishop's voice sent red-hot anger through his veins.

"He's a murderer and a terrorist," Bishop continued. "He deserves to die in the same way that he killed that Petty Officer in Rota."

"I agree, he deserves to be punished. But this is not the way, Bishop." McGee moved forward as silently as he could to stand next to the bedroom door. It was cracked open. He saw Quinn tied to the wall next to Townsend, who appeared to be unconscious. He couldn't see Bishop, but assumed she was against the opposite wall, next to the door.

"How were you going to punish him? By turning him into an a _sset_?" Bishop made the word sound like a curse. Then she stepped forward into McGee's view. She was pointing a gun at Townsend. McGee leveled his weapon at her and nudged the door open.

"NCIS, freeze!" he shouted. "Drop your weapon, Bishop!"

Bishop flinched, but instead of dropping her gun, she pulled the trigger. Just as she did, Quinn managed to pull her hands free and throw herself in front of Townsend. The bullet struck her in the side of the neck.

McGee fired, but Bishop was already ducking. She ran through a door to the other bedroom. "Torres!" McGee called. "The stairs!"

He heard Torres sprint for the stairwell as he knelt down beside Quinn. He pressed his coat to the wound in her neck, but even as he did, he knew that it was useless.

He held her hand as she died.

Two gunshots sounded from the first floor. He gently closed Quinn's eyes and raced down the stairs. When he got there, Torres was holding his own coat to Jessie's side.

"She shot me to get away," Jessie gasped out. "Through the front!"

McGee ran through the open door. "Abby, are you on traffic cams?" he asked into the coms.

"Yeah, but unfortunately, she knows that," Abby replied. Her voice was shaking. "She's gone. Tim, what about..."

"She killed Quinn," he told her quietly. "Call Jimmy."

McGee and Torres left Jessie in the care of the EMTs and went back to the Navy Yard. When they arrived on the second floor, they saw that all eyes were on the balcony.

"Special Agent Alex Quinn embodied what NCIS stands for," Gibbs was saying. "She was brave, and honorable, and true. She sacrificed herself to save the life of Jeremy Townsend, a murderer and a terrorist, not because she thought he deserved it, but because she knew it was the right thing to do." The Director paused, looking down at the hushed agents. "Honor Alex Quinn. Bring her murderer to justice."

* * *

I re-wrote this scene about ten times and I'm still not quite satisfied, but hopefully it seems realistic enough. And heartwrenching enough. I think I definitely got the heartwrenching part down.

Thanks to everyone for reading, and to athea781 and DS2010 for reviewing! athea781, you put that into words so much better than I did. I agree, she went rogue as soon as Qasim was gunned down - it just didn't become evident until she killed Chen. DS2010, you said in your last review that you like Quinn... so do I, which made it hard for me to kill her off, but you'll see why I did it in the next few chapters. Also, your comment about Bishop going to the dark side gave me a mental image of her in a Darth Vader mask, so thank you for that. :P


	6. Chapter 6

"Abbs, tell me you've got something," McGee said as he entered the lab.

"I've got something." Abby's face was streaked with tears, but the look in her eyes was pure steel. "You're not going to like it, though."

"I didn't think I would. What do you have?"

"The bullets from Bishop's gun. They were dipped in poison, McGee."

He pulled out his phone, but Abby put a hand on his arm. "I already called Jessie's doctors. They're administering the antidote as we speak." She held up a hand, anticipating his next question. "It's a slow-acting poison. Would have caused death within a week or so."

McGee gave Abby a tight hug and returned to the bullpen. Torres was frantically typing away at his computer, clearly holding back tears. "Abby has some news on the bullet," he told him. A couple of other agents heard and leaned over their cubicle walls to listen in. "It was poisoned. If it hadn't killed immediately, the poison would have killed within a week." Torres opened his mouth, but McGee forestalled him by saying, "Yes, Jessie's doctors know, and she's going to be fine."

"Bishop poisoned the bullet? She hasn't done that before, has she?" asked another agent.

"Bishop is constantly changing her M.O.," Torres replied. "But this... It must be a failsafe. If she doesn't kill them with the gunshot, she kills them with the poison. It's a win for her either way."

"Every time I think she can't stoop lower, she does," the other agent retorted. "Anyone have any leads yet?"

"Nada," Torres said.

"Then let's get back to work," McGee ordered.

But the day proved fruitless, to the frustration of every agent in the building. Bishop hadn't been caught on any cameras since disappearing from the abandoned house. She must have also kept Quinn and Townsend off cameras after they left the bar. McGee and Torres tried reaching out to old co-workers, friends, and family, even her ex-husband, but none of them had seen or heard from Bishop in years. Without Quinn to tell them what had happened between the meet-up at the bar and showing up at the abandoned house, they had no other leads to follow. Jeremy Townsend was no help; he was still unconscious.

"Go to the hospital," Gibbs told McGee at last. "Sit with Wells and wait for Townsend to wake up. When he does, question him. I don't care what the doctors say."

"On it, boss," McGee muttered. He collected Torres from the bullpen and left.

Gibbs followed soon after. He knew that he could update SecNav just as well from his house, and he had a gut feeling.

Sure enough, he hadn't been in his basement for five minutes before he heard footsteps on the stairs.

"Hello, Bishop," he said.

* * *

Because everything ends in Gibbs' basement.

Thanks to everyone for reading, and to DS2010, my two guests, and earthdragon for reviewing! DS2010 - it all ends in the next chapter, which I'll probably also rewrite seven times or so. Guest 1 (for lack of a better distinction) - excellent quote, very relevant! Guest 2 - yeah, she is definitely basing her actions off those of her co-workers. earthdragon - Thank you! I'd be interested to hear what you think once you reach the episode this story is based off of. I'm glad you think this is believable for Ellie's character. I agree, Tim is good as senior agent!


	7. Chapter 7

Gibbs turned around, gun in one hand, mason jar of bourbon in the other.

"Hello, Gibbs," Ellie replied, a quaver in her voice.

"You look different," he told her, not moving from his workbench.

"Blonde was never my color anyway," she said.

"Not what I meant."

She looked away, giving Gibbs the chance to consider her more thoroughly. Her hair _was_ shorter and black, but that was the least of the changes in Ellie Bishop. She walked with the ease of an experienced undercover operative, always aware of her surroundings without needing to look around. He could tell there was a gun concealed at her waist, but only because he knew exactly where to look. He also guessed that there were at least three other weapons on her body, and one in the small drawstring backpack she carried over her shoulder.

The biggest difference was in her eyes, though, Gibbs reflected as his former protégé turned to him again. Her eyes had once been full of life, lighting up with curiosity or good humor. Now they were solemn, more sad than angry, as she regarded him.

"Rule 51," she said at last.

"Damn straight," Gibbs told her. "You killed one of my people, Bishop."

"I tried to let her go!" She took a step forward, holding up her hands defensively. "I swear, Gibbs, I tried to get Townsend away from Alex at first, but she made me. Then once I had them in the house, I untied her and told her she could leave, but she wouldn't. No matter what I did, she wouldn't leave. She wouldn't stop protecting the son of a bitch!"

"Because that was the right thing to do," Gibbs said softly. "And deep down, you know it."

Bishop dropped her hands. "I'm sorry, Gibbs. I never would have – I never would have killed her."

"Doesn't change the fact that you did." He set the mason jar of bourbon on the workbench and leveled his gun at her. "By your own rules, you deserve to bleed out from a bullet to the neck. You get that, right?"

She didn't look away this time. "Do it. I deserve worse."

Gibbs lowered his weapon and sat heavily on the sawhorse. "That would dishonor Quinn's sacrifice."

Bishop paused, then said, "I was stopping a bad guy, Gibbs. Isn't that what we're supposed to do?"

"Not the way you've been doing it, Bishop. We capture – we don't kill unless we have no choice. And we do it together, according to the law."

"Don't give me that, Gibbs," she snapped. "I broke the law all the time when I was on your team."

He held her gaze with his own. "Hacking into a server without a warrant is different than killing criminals instead of arresting them."

"What about the criminals we can't arrest?" she protested hotly. "What about the criminals who would get off even if we caught them red-handed? All of the people I've killed have deserved it."

"Even Quinn?"

"I tried–" Bishop clenched a fist, then released it and looked away. "I tried to let her go."

Gibbs didn't reply; she continued as though he had. "When I killed Chen, I thought I did the right thing. You told me there'd be a price. I didn't believe you, and I – I kept going. Alex... she was my price."

"You're right." He got to his feet, wincing as his knees popped. "You know you're under arrest."

"I know."

"Put your weapons on the ground."

She obeyed.

* * *

This was actually the first scene I wrote. I almost published an early version of this as a one-shot, but I decided it would be interesting to write how Quinn died and more details about why Bishop went rogue. What do you think? I'm not sure if I made Gibbs angry enough.

When I thought more about what Gibbs would consider the "price" of his rogue-ness, I decided that it would be the people who died because of it. Yes, he killed the man who killed his wife and daughter - but because of his actions, Lara Macy died (along with numerous other people and nearly his father and Mike Franks). I think he would consider Lara Macy and the others his "price." Perhaps, in a different sense, he would even consider Paloma Reynosa and Alejandro Rivera his "price" because their lives were ruined when he killed their father. So in order to make this comparable, I wanted to give Bishop the "price" of a person. Quinn was just the one that came to mind first.

Thanks to everyone for reading, and to lady wayfarer and DS2010 for reviewing! lady wayfarer - I'm glad you enjoyed rogue!Bishop! And DS2010 - yes, yes she is.


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